Properly identifying trees is a critical part of forestry management. Aspects of proper identification begin with the need to harvest certain trees over others, but also extend into the proper markings of ownership and as well as border delineation.
When managing the harvest of a forest, it is often important to keep track of trees in a group and even on an individual basis. Current methods for marking trees employ external identifiers, such as metal labels, plastic ribbons, flags or paint. All of these methods rely on direct line of sight with the identifier, and all may be damaged or removed by the elements, animals, counterfeiters, vandals or thieves. When it is considered that proper management of a copse or of individual tree spans years or decades, the inadequacies of current identifiers becomes even more apparent.
Visual markings also increase the likelihood of user error. For example, a tree marked five years ago might be misinterpreted by new personal surveying the tree. The visual markers rely on the knowledge and/or memory of the person observing the mark
For these reasons, proper management and protection of trees has been limited by the use of inadequate identifiers. Further, although trees also make a tempting border marker, the ability to properly mark a border is also limited by the failures of using external border markers discussed above.
What is needed is an identifier that is resistant to wear, does not rely on line of sight, is difficult to tamper with or counterfeit, and is user friendly.